Education Commons^™

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy: An Understanding Of How To Educate Black And Latinx Students, Darius Jackson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This case study examined culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) with a primary focus on students and their culturally responsive perspectives through qualitative interviews and focus groups with students and teachers at an alternative high school in Chicago. Using an engaged scholar and insider researcher approach, I was able to have deep and meaningful conversations with the participants that supplied a rich bond and foundation for data analysis. The overarching purpose of this study was to supply an understanding of how students and teachers understand cultural responsiveness to find cultural curriculum changes. A series of interviews, focus groups, and analysis of artifacts …

Radical (Re)Positioning Of Students As Cocreators Of Curriculum: A Participatory Action Research Study Of Undergraduate Student-Instructor Partnerships In Online Learning Environments, Kari Eleana Goin

Dissertations and Theses

Undergraduate curriculum is not representative of all students. Course content, language, images, and textbooks often reinforce societal power relations and hierarchies that tend to center white, male, hetero, middle-class, able-bodied identities. When students' varied cultural and linguistic identities are not represented in the curriculum, inadequately represented students are less likely to actively participate, persist, and continue their education. Emerging scholarship indicates that student-instructor cocreation of course syllabi, materials, and/or classroom experiences is a promising practice for increasing representation and responsiveness to student voices, although researchers do not know how the process of cocreation unfolds in asynchronous spaces. Enrollment in undergraduate …

A Student Led Assessment Of Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion In The Environmental Science And Management Department At Portland State University, Aneesha Gharpurey

University Honors Theses

In the summer of 2020, the world watched as Black communities and allies responded to the murder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor. An intensification of social and racial justice awareness provoked many entities like higher education institutions (HEI) to evaluate how they support marginalized people and update their diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) plans. In an attempt to maintain excellence, many HEIs implement DEI plans through top-down methods where high-level administrators target recruitment and retention, campus climate, community engagement, and curriculum. These plans rarely incorporate students as co-collaborators and administer DEI changes that have little effect on students' self-belonging, …

Medical Faculty Engagement In Curricular Revisions: An Inquiry Into Individual And Organizational Factors That Support Participation, Tomoko Tanikawa

Dissertations and Theses

In efforts to facilitate the education of highly qualified and best-prepared medical professionals, many medical schools are either planning for or engaging in curriculum revisions including a complete overhaul of the curricular structure, academic and medical content, and pedagogical delivery modalities. To be effective, such changes require faculty buy-in, participation, engagement, and innovation. Unfortunately, despite medical schools' efforts to support faculty involvement in curricular revision, a range of reactions exist, including resistance. Thus, understanding the interactions between individual faculty attitudes and behaviors toward organizational initiatives and structural support is critical in advancing the educational mission of medical schools. Based on …

Managing Science Teachers’ Adoption Of The 2005 Tanzanian Inquiry And Student-Centred Curriculum: Revealing Schoolbased Leaders’ Practices And Achievements, Noel Mark Makwinya

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Many countries have made considerable changes to their education systems in response to the forces of globalisation. Tanzania is no exception. The most recent educational change attempt in Tanzania relates to the introduction of the 2005 Tanzanian Inquiry and Student- Centred Curriculum.

Sound change-leadership is a necessary condition for the realisation of change, particularly in influencing its adoption. Within the descriptive qualitative research paradigm, this study employed a Type IV (embedded and multiple) case-study design to examine and describe science teachers’ lived experiences in dealing with this latest Tanzanian curriculum and the role played by school-based leaders in influencing such …

I See A Spark And Blow On It: Drama Practice In Year 1 And The New Australian Curriculum In The Arts, Christine Lovering

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

New educational directives have an effect on the practice of teachers in schools. This study is propelled by the introduction of a national Australian Curriculum and subsequent changes to the Arts curriculum. As one of the five arts subjects, drama has been included in the primary school curriculum in Western Australia since 1997, however, its inclusion and the teaching of drama has not been consistently realised.

Teacher perspectives and beliefs about specific Learning Areas influence their planning and practice; often this is related to past experiences. This study aims to determine Year 1 teachers’ perspectives of, and practices in, drama. …

Exploring The Impact Of Program Structure On Student And Faculty Scholarly Communities In Interdisciplinary Ph. D. Programs, Lenore G. Horowitz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Information Science doctoral program at the University at Albany, State University of New York, faces many of the same challenges found in highly interdisciplinary programs across educational institutions worldwide such as complex curricula development, abundant discipline languages and cultures, and stakeholders clinging to the traditional, single-discipline university system. In 2006, the University at Albany Information Science Ph.D. program faculty redefined the program's structure in hopes of addressing the challenges it was facing. Program structure is a social process shaped by community participation and is influenced by many factors including students, faculty members, and both informal and formal knowledge production.

Alignment Of Intended Learning Outcomes, Curriculum And Assessment In A Middle School Science Program, Reid J. Smith

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study focused on the intended learning outcomes, curriculum and assessment in the science curriculum offered at a regional independent Middle School in the state of Victoria, Australia. In-school assessment has indicated that the current science curriculum of this Middle School may not develop students' skills in scientific literacy as effectively as intended. One hypothesis to explain this deficit is that there is a misalignment of intended outcomes, curriculum materials and assessment. This study aimed to determine the extent to which the intended curriculum and assessment in this Victorian middle years' science program is aligned to its stated goals and …

Teaching Strategies For Increasing Computational Fluency In Middle School Students, Alejandra Rios Blakeslee

All Graduate Projects

In light of the new Washington State K-12 Mathematics Learning Standards, it has become a priority to help struggling students close the gap in academic achievement. Therefore, in an effort to remediate the lack of computation and rigor currently being taught in middle school mathematics using an investigational approach curriculum a complimentary curriculum has been evaluated, compiled, and aligned to supplement the curriculum. The purpose of this project is to compile a set of Groundworks mini-lessons, a series of tiered lessons that targets specific mathematical skills, to be used with correlating parts of the CMP2 curriculum with the aim of …

Revamping The Classroom: Improving The Education Of Students With Disabilities, Kathryn M. Lynn

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

A teacher in-service presentation was developed that sought to improve the education of students with disabilities through teacher communication and education about pertinent strategies. The program presented is titled "Agreed To Succeed". The "Agreed To Succeed" program is based upon the three I's: (a) initiating communication, (b) integrating learning, and (c) incorporating strategies. In the presentation, teachers were offered an approach to opening communication among teachers, students, and staff. Additionally, strategies were presented to encourage teachers to modify curriculum for their students with disabilities in their classrooms.

Project-Based Learning For Independent Study Students With Technology Integration, Laura Sturman

Theses Digitization Project

This project developed criteria for evaluating projects for independent study students through a review of the literature and a survey of teachers. The criteria are largely student directed and multi-disciplinary, they engage higher level thinking skills and incorporates a variety of resources including technology.

Using Computer Technology To Enhance Science Education, Cynthia Lynn Peterson

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this project is to determine if using computer technology as a tool for conceptual change would be an effective pedagogical strategy in replacing science misconceptions.

The Cognitive Connection: Contextual Learning Through The Integration Of Community College Vocational And Academic Curricula, Richard Betancourt

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Factors Related To The Integration Of Vocational And Academic Curricula In Selected California Counties, Yi-Chuan Wu

Theses Digitization Project

No abstract provided.

A Descriptive Study Of The Implementation Of An Integrated Whole Language Approach At The Fifth Grade Level, Ardyth Shapiro

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe the implementation of a major curriculum change at the fifth grade level in two different school district settings; an urban district and a suburban district. The major curriculum change was a shift from traditional reading and language arts instructional approaches to an Integrated Whole Language instructional approach. The implementation of this change was examined on the basis of self-reports by administrators, teachers, and students and was analyzed in the context of organizational factors in schools that have typically influenced change. These included school district demographics, the decision making process, administrative support, inservice …

An Investigation Of Changes To The Tertiary Entrance Examination Art History Syllabus And Art Teachers' Perceptions Of Those Changes, A. Ivankovic

Theses : Honours

In 1986, a new Tertiary Entrance Examination Art Syllabus was introduced to the secondary school curriculum. Four years have passed since the implementation of this syllabus without 11 formal evaluation having taken place. Because the changes to the Art Syllabus were implemented swiftly, it is considered appropriate to investigate any discrepancies between the intended changes to the Tertiary Entrance Examination Art History Syllabus and art teachers' perceptions of those changes, This study was prompted by concern expressed by art teachers over the changes in the Tertiary Entrance Examination (TEE) Art Syllabus. A foreshadowed minor change in the 1992 Art History …